Hareton Hall: Richard and Rose by Lynne Connolly

Author:Lynne Connolly [Connolly, Lynne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781605047010
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2010-07-19T14:00:00+00:00

I told Richard later, when I went into his room before dinner. He sat at his dressing table which was festooned with bottles, brushes and tiny silver containers. Every day he disordered it, and every day Carier put it back into military order. First I showed him the watch, and he smiled when he saw the miniature inside. “I’ve not seen this for a long time. I thought Gervase had lost it.”

“Do you mind him giving it to me?”

“No, of course not.” He paused. “It’s a generous gesture on his part.” He snapped the watch shut and returned it to me. I put it in its little leather case and then in my pocket. I might have a chain made for it, for safety. He looked into the mirror and smiled at me. “Had a good day?”

“Except for missing Helen.”

He turned to put his hand over mine where it lay on the back of his chair. “I know. I miss her too.”

“Martha wrote again. She wants to come home, but I’ve told her to wait a few days longer. There haven’t been any more cases, just Barbara.”

“Of course,” said Richard grimly. “We can be fairly sure where she got it from.”

He drew his hand away and picked up his diamond solitaire from the table in front of him. I watched his concentration as he fixed it in the folds of his neckcloth.

“Gervase wants me to speak to Ian for him,” I told Richard. “Do you know why?”

“Yes,” said Richard. He shook the ruffles on his neckcloth, flicked them up with practised fingers. “I’d have been unconscious if I hadn’t known something was afoot there.”

“He doesn’t know how Ian feels.”

“Do you?”

“No.”

“Do you mind?” He stood and turned to face me. The opprobrium Gervase had received in his absence made Richard sensitive about the subject. He would take any criticism of his brother in this respect badly.

I could be honest without upsetting him. “I’ve never known Ian to take an interest in either sex before. He’s always been too engrossed in his studies, or so I thought. Perhaps he hid something else all the time, something he’s been trying to hide from himself.”

“Do you think he knows how Gervase feels about him?”

“Ian? No, I don’t think so, but it’s hard to tell.”

Carier came in from the dressing room bearing a lilac satin confection—Richard’s choice of coat for dinner. Richard nodded and went over to where Carier held his coat for him. The embroidery on his waistcoat glittered as he moved.

“Gervase says he would be happy with Ian’s friendship,” I told him.

He smiled. “As I’d have been happy with yours?” He held out his arm and let Carier pull out the ruffles at his wrists. “I’d have settled for it, but happy—no, my love, that’s an overstatement.”

“You would have married Julia.”

“Yes,” he agreed, holding out the other arm for Carier. “And been supremely miserable in my marriage. Instead of this.” He crossed the room to me and looked me over critically. He reached his hand up and adjusted my pearl and diamond necklace so it lay straight.

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